Chinese Travel Behavior in Response to Disastrous Events: The Case of the Japan Earthquake

ABSTRACT

In a bid to identify Chinese travelers that can be relied upon in the event of a significant disaster this paper examines the travel behavior of the Chinese tourism market following the 2011 Japan earthquake. The post-disaster travel behavior of 535 Chinese travelers who had existing plans to travel to Japan at the time of the earthquake is explored to reveal the characteristics of Chinese travelers who would still travel under such circumstances. This paper also identifies the characteristics and concerns of those who canceled their travel indefinitely. Relationships are explored between travel decision and variables such as past travel experience, trip purpose, image perception and demographic background in order to identify dependable tourist markets that can be relied on in the wake of a disaster. Practical implications for destination marketers reliant on this market and seeking to encourage visitation post-disaster are provided.

摘要

本文探讨了2011日本大地震后中国旅游市场的旅游行为，以识别能在灾难性事件后依仗的中国旅客。 研究员对535名在地震期间有计划前往日本的中国旅客的灾后旅游行为进行了研究，并揭示了在灾后依然选择前往日本的中国旅客的特征。此外，本研究識別了那些无限期取消行程的旅客的特点，并探索旅游决策与过去的旅行体验、出行目的、形象感知及人口背景等的关系，以識认能在灾难事件后可依赖的旅游市场。本文亦为目的地营销者提供了实用涵义。

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese travel market
• Japan earthquake
• natural disasters
• tourism crisis recovery

关键词:

• 中国旅游市场、日本地震、自然灾害、旅游危机恢复

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In year 2013, 98.19 million Chinese traveled abroad with the outbound expenditure reaching US$128.7 billion. This was an increase of 18% compared with year 2012 (China Tourism Academy, 2014).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lingling Wu

Dr Lingling Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institution for Transport Policy Studies, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (E‐mail: [email protected]).

Gabrielle Walters

Dr Gabrielle Walters is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Research Methods at the School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at University of Queensland, Brisbane St Lucia, Queensland, Australia (E‐mail: [email protected]).